Since we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God and the World Day of Peace on January 1st, the beginning of a new year, I want take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy and Peaceful New Year. “The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”

This Christmas, let us all come together and be people of one accord, united in the Lord. Come home. Come back home. Let the sin of division and separation be healed by the sacrament of unity, the Holy Eucharist. Around the table of plenty, let us pray that the Lord may give us peace, that He may not look on our sins but on the faith of the Church, and that He may graciously grant us peace and unity in accordance with His will. It is true - a truly meaningful Christmas is not possible without the Eucharist.

On the first Christmas, our Savior Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, which literally means the House of Bread. He was then laid in a feeding trough called manger. In the Eucharist, Jesus comes to us truly, really, and substantially, in the form of bread and wine. He gives himself to us to be partaken, for “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” (Jn. 6, 54)

When we open our eyes, we can see the miraculous actions of God in our midst. God is alive and active. We are able to rejoice always when, in the eyes of faith, we see how God blesses us with endless graces each and every day. Amen!

Be reconciled with others and with God! This is the overarching theme of our readings this weekend.